Big data in nephrology: friend or foe?

The phrase 'big data' has arrived in today's lexicon with great fanfare and some degree of hyperbole. Generally speaking, big data refer to data sets that are too complex to be successfully interrogated using standard statistical software. A wide variety of business sectors has utilized big data to garner competitive advantage within their respective markets. Medicine and nephrology, in particular, have been late to this table. This is beginning to change, however, as data scientists begin to work with these large data sets, developing predictive models that permit us to peer into the future. Coupled with an expanding understanding of genomics, predictive models constructed with the assistance of big data may soon provide us with a powerful tool to use as we provide care to patients with renal disease.